Access to Healthy Food

Food Policy Council Site Visit

Hartford, Connecticut, June 15th and 16th, 2006

Page Updated September 6, 2007

The National Conference of State Legislatures and the Community Food Security Coalition organized a site visit in Hartford, Connecticut on June 15th and 16th to learn more about food policy councils and their work on food system issues, such as farmland preservation, marketing opportunities for farmers, and hunger issues. Legislators, legislative staff, and non-profits from throughout the Northeast joined NCSL to sit-in on a joint meeting of the Connecticut and Hartford Food policy councils. Highlights of the visit included a tour and dinner at Graywall farms, a local dairy that has benefited from state policy, visits to a few schools that have nutrition education and farm-to-school programs, and a tour of the Connecticut countryside to see with our own eyes their successful farmland preservation program.

This project was supported by the Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, USDA, Grant # 2005-04310.

Click here for a written synopsis of the activities, presentations, and events that made for a great learning experience.

We wish to thank our sponsors, who enabled participants to taste for themselves the local delicacies that are an integral part of the Northeast's local food economy.

To view the agenda from this meeting, please click here.

Speakers Presentations from this visit

Food Policy Council Overview
Mark Winne, Community Food Security Coalition (PowerPoint Presentation)
Kristin Brooks, Michigan FPC (PowerPoint Presentation)

How Food Policy Councils Monitor & Coordinate
Rigoberto Lopez, University of Connecticut (PowerPoint Presentation)

Farmers' Market Programs
Jennifer McTiernan, CitySeed, Inc. (PowerPoint Presentation)

Other Resources:

NCSL's Healthy Community Design Legislation Database contains summaries of bills that focus on strategies that increase access to healthy food and opportunities for including physical activity into one's daily routine.

World Hunger Year has information on food policy council work at the local and state level.

The Community Food Security Coalition's page has a list of all North American food policy councils, a summary of councils created by state governments, and issue contacts on various policy areas.

Drake University Agricultural Law Center's website contains a snapshot of food policy work around the country, with contact information for many of the councils.

The Connecticut Food Policy Council website has the legislative language that created the council, as well as past accomplishments and resources on Connecticut food issues.

The Connecticut Farmland Preservation program, administered by the state Department of Agriculture, has preserved over 30,000 acres of agricultural land and is regarded as a national model.

The Hartford Food Policy Commission was established in 1991 by the City Council to work on food security and hunger issues.

The Hartford Food System works on a wide variety of food issues, including hunger issues, and runs an urban farm in Hartford.

The Michigan Food Policy Council is another example of a state-wide food council and was created by Executive Order in 2005.

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